I was transcribing a taped interview
from the Jerez tests when it really
came home to me. In the background
one, then two, then more of the new
1000cc MotoGP bikes were taking
to the track. The noise was fantastic.
Almost as good as the first-generation
990s.
Of course I’d already been favourably
impressed by the gruffer tones of the
bigger engines out on the track. But I
was watching all sorts of other things
as well; noise was only part of it. It
needed to be disembodied and thrown
into the background before I got the full
impression.
Significantly, it was because I was
hearing them in the same way TV
audiences will.
The new 1000s will never be as aurally
entertaining as the 990s that reigned with
splendour from 2002 to 2006 (pictured).
The rules say so. Engines must be four-
cylinder, 81mm maximum bore size. This
considerably limits the spectrum of sound.
In the 990 days the haunting scream
of the three-cylinder Aprilia, the baritone
of Suzuki’s V4 and the howl-growl of
Ducati’s L4 compensated for the dull
street-bike sound of the first Yamaha M1,
with its conventional in-line four. Honda’s
V5 was king of the choir, combining bass
and treble in a unique five-cylinder howl
that could send shivers down
your spine.
Then Yamaha also got
with the music, with a
flash of detailed technical
analysis that discovered
that V4 engines not only
sounded better. They also
expressed their power in
a way that made it more
amenable to a motorcycle and
its rider. Along came Masao
Furusawa’s cross-plane crankshaft
–
skewing two big-end journals by
90 degrees to turn the M1 motor into a
virtual V4, while still retaining its compact
in-line layout.
They were followed by Kawasaki, and
the chorus was complete. Dropping to
800cc spoiled it quite a lot. The return to
1000cc means that bass notes are back.
Plenty of attention is paid to noise.
The regs define how tests must
be conducted in an open area. With
the engine at 5,500 rpm, measuring
equipment is placed “50 cm from the
end of the exhaust pipe and at 45 degree
angle to the pipe either to the side or
above.” A MotoGP bike is allowed 130
dB/A; Moto2 is confined to 115 dB/A.
Not nearly enough attention is paid
to sound. It is a huge part of the show,
and if Dorna want to build up their
showmanship then they should pay
serious attention. It is pure serendipity
that most of the new MotoGP CRT bikes
are V4 Aprilias, which join the factory
bikes in sounding like “real motorbikes”
(as a casual fan once put it to me). Not so
the two Kawasakis or the lone BMW and
Honda – though I guess in the end it’s a
matter of taste.
To me, Moto2 sounds unmitigatedly
awful, all the worse because every
engine sings from exactly the same
hymn sheet. Remember the vuvuzelas
of the South African soccer World Cup?
Shrill, toneless, tuneless and penetrating.
That’s Moto2. Dorna supplies the engines:
why not make the control engine a V4,
whether real or virtual? Or better still (and
a whole lot more likely), why not twin-
cylinder 500s with open engine supply,
as in Moto3, with cylinder size matching
their joint 81mm max – a suggestion
from LCR MotoGP team owner Lucio
Cecchinello.
Moto3 is another problem, described
by one rider as “like a lawnmower with a
hole in the exhaust when you get some
revs on them”
. Then again, nobody would
argue that the 125 two-strokes they
replace sounded very impressive.
Fans watch racing. They also
listen to it. They will find the
back-beat more enjoyable
in 2012.
OPINION
MICHAEL
SCOTT
MotoGP
Editor
DISTANT DRUMS – Why noise matters to racing
OPINION
20
GPWEEK.com //
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